Review

Review Summary: Intricately structured slam-death that shows many other members of the sub-genre how it should be done

Unfortunately, Katalepsy are so far just another case of a band that has a small and devoted fan base but haven't really put themselves on the map. Within the slam-death metal genre they are quite well known due to both of their studio albums to date, but death metal fans in general do not generally listen to them. The band's first album, Musick Brings Injuries, was an entertaining riff-fest that had a lot of solid songs, but the follow-up, Autopsychosis, absolutely destroys this release. What this album is is a mesmerising display of how slam-death metal should be done properly, with a lot more technicality in the guitar work and drum patterns than ever before, and the only surviving member of their previous line-up, Anatoly, remains his own technical proficiency.

Igor Filimontsev's vocals are one thing that people will immediately point at to discuss about this album. They sounds very much like Demilich's burping-growls, and are quite fitting for the music despite this. Some will laugh at them and claim that he is an awful vocalist, but I quite enjoyed them, although not as much as their previous vocalist. The songs are well structured so that they are unpredictable, non-linear and constantly keep the listener guessing as to where the band is to take them next on their musical journey. This is in no small part caused by the ridiculously intricate guitar work. The sweeps that populated their first album have returned but this time the band shows off a schizophrenic knowledge of riffing, from crazily fast palm-muted chords to some of the quickest shredding out there. This band's guitar work is somewhat reminiscent of that of Suffocation, although even more technical than that particular band, but not quite as well put together as some of their best works.

The drumming is hyper-fast but also varied, so that when the slams come into play (very frequently), the listener does not get bored. The slams themselves are very well played and are placed well in the songs so that they break up the non-stop brutality very well with some awesome headbangable moments. A lot of slam-death bands out there that suffer from sounding too generic should take notes from this album, as there really is not an album out there that sounds quite like Katalepsy's sophomore album. Taedium Vitae in particular sticks out as being the best track here, with some incredibly complex riffing and a fantastic structure. Lurking in the Depth is another one that is definitely worth checking out, if only for the mentally quick bass solo near the beginning-seriously, the bassist of this band must have amputated his fingers playing that. This truly is a scintillating display of how slam-death metal should be played properly.

The crisp production job only sweetens the deal, so that every ridiculously fast riff and every awesome slam is only highlighted even more. The soloing is another highlight, but really everything about this album could be singled out as a positive feature and dissected, so it would be easier to say just go and check the ***ing album yourself. M/